A shipment of Russian Kalibr naval cruise missiles was destroyed while being transported in Crimea on Monday night, the same day that Ukrainian intelligence assessed that the Russian missile strategy has failed.
The train carrying the missiles was destroyed in the northern Crimean town of Dzhankoi, the Ukrainian Intelligence Directorate (GUR) said. Reports on a Wagner-affiliated Telegram channel alleged that at least two drones had successfully struck a train in the village "with military equipment or fuel," and that residents had noted several explosions.
GUR explained that the missiles are "designed for launches from surface ships of the Russian Black Sea Fleet. The range of damage of such weapons is more than 2,500 kilometers against land targets and 375 kilometers against sea targets."
Black Sea Fleet's naval warfare against Ukraine
Throughout the Russia-Ukraine War, the Black Sea Fleet has fired Kalibrs against Ukrainian targets. As the war progressed, maritime attacks have become less frequent. Cruise missile ships have been deployed less to the Black Sea in past months, with at combat readiness on Monday.
Russian warships have been concerned about Ukrainian anti-ship missiles, but Ukrainian and western sources have noted problems with Russian missile supplies.
"They have 7% of the 'Kalibr' left from the number that was at the beginning of the full-scale aggression," GUR representative Adriy Yusov claimed on March 14.
"They can't make up those costs even through production."
Russian officials order doubling of precision missile production
Russian officials have ordered the doubling of production of precision missiles in some state defense companies. Ukraine has previously claimed Russia has been stockpiling missiles for its waves of missile bombardments of Ukraine. The intervals between these barrages have reportedly become larger.
In response to these increasing salvo intervals, the Ukrainian Intelligence directorate said on Monday that these Russian missile attacks have already been "defeated." While Yusov said that the Russians wouldn't give up the "terror" tool of the "missile blitzkriegs," the Russian military could no longer afford to use Kalibrs, Iskander ballistic missiles, and Knizhal hypersonic cruise missiles. Consequently, the Kremlin was using older projectiles.